Titanium 3D Printing Guide

[Brian_Krassenstein]

Because low density, high strength titanium is one of the most desired industrial quality metals, Michigan-based titanium distributor and reseller Titanium Processing Center put together a simple infographic on the use of 3D printing with titanium. 3D printed titanium is typically made on a powder bed metal 3D printer that uses a process called direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) capable of melting titanium in layers of about 20 to 40 µm. You can read more about 3D printing with titanium over on 3DPrint.com: http://3dprint.com/111142/3d-printing-with-titanium/

[curious aardvark]

is it me or are these kind of infographics always targeted at 6 year olds ?

[Gorf]

The article lists only one of the processes used to create titanium 3-D printed objects, direct laser sintering.. There are a number of other alternatives. Like any other process, each has its own strengths and weaknesses. There is no best way that suits all applications. Here is a list of some other methodologies:

Other companies produce sintered metal products by depositing adhesive layer on a powder bed comprising a mixture of metals, say, bronze and titanium. After they have created this object that is weakly held together by the adhesive they remove the excess powders and fire it in a kiln. This fuses the powders together.

Arcam AB of Sweden http://www.arcam.com/ produces EBM additive manufacturing systems. They call their process "electron beam melting" to distinguish it from sintering, which results in a slightly porous material, whereas theirs produces completely a solid object.

Sciaky, a company with strong credentials in the electron welding field, has another system which, instead of powder, uses an e-beam to melt a wire feedstock, which is then applied to form the object very much like an FDM printer. I do not hear much about it, but it has some advantages as well as disadvantages just like the plastic printer equivalents. http://www.sciaky.com/additive-manuf...ing-technology

Norsk Titanium uses a process that sounds very similar to that of Sciaky, except that instead of using an electron beam to melt the feedstock, they employ a plasma arc in what they call "Rapid Plasma Deposition (RPD) technology." A link to their website is:http://www.norsktitanium.no/, and an article describing them:http://3dprint.com/109281/norsk-titanium-amaze/. I have read elsewhere that they are teamed with Alcoa.

Another company is called Optomec. Instead of a wire, they feed jets of powdered metal to the focal point of a high-powered laser, which melts the powder and deposits it. Their website is: http://www.optomec.com/3d-printed-me...ns-technology/ and a link to an article describing them can be found at: http://3dprint.com/108949/autodesk-ember-updates/.

This is not intended to be a comprehensive listing of all of fabrication companies or methods to create titanium objects. But the viewer should know that there are many different alternatives, and should perform due diligence before any single one is chosen.

[TavPress]

Selective laser melting of different types of alloys suits perfectly the needs of lightweight applications involved in vehicle and engine technology. Mixing different raw materials as titanium, aluminum, stainless steel or nickel based alloys and discovering new alloys of various strengths and temperature resistance is close to impossible through conventional manufacturing methods.
Take a look at this article on Metal additive manufacturing and vacuum heat treating